Commercial laying operations manage when their pullets start laying by managing the light. They want the pullets to get to a certain age before they start laying, partly because they get a lot more for decent sized eggs compared to the small pullet eggs, and partly the pullets have less medical problems if they don't start laying too soon. If you have 5,000 laying hens in one chicken house, that becomes real important. They eat a little less if it is mostly dark. Since they want the pullets to mature to where they are ready to safely lay, not pile on extra unhealthy fat, them eating less is beneficial, not just for the cost of the feed but for health reasons. They can wait to start the layer with its extra calcium until they all need it. I don't know at what age they switch the lights from mostly dark to mostly light or what the period of darkness is. I suspect around 23 to 24 weeks and that the dark period is 14 hours, but I don't really know.
I'm not in your situation. I don't provide extra light but just let them lay when they want. My goals are probably different from yours, so I am not criticizing. We all have different goals and situations. I'd think it would work for you to not provide any extra light until you think they are ready to lay, then you can probably turn them on to laying by increasing the light.
Just my opinion. Good luck!
